Career Development for Clinician EducatorsA Step by Step Guide

Joseph Safdieh MD FAAN

Assistant Dean, Clinical Curriculum

Vice Chair for Education and Associate

Professor of Neurology

Weill Cornell Medicine

New York Presbyterian Hospital

DISCLOSURE

Relevant Financial Relationship(s)

Editorial Stipend, AAN

Off Label Usage

None

Basic Learning Objectives

To define the term clinician educator (CE)

To list the various roles of a CE

To describe the process of starting a career as a CE

To demonstrate the steps required to achieve success as a CE

Outline

Know what you want to do

Know what tools you will need

Know what assistance you will need

Know how to navigate the promotions ladder

Know what you want to do…

This is your career

Vision statement

Set your own goals

Choose an area of excellence

Know what you want to do…

Overview of Academic Roles1. Clinician (practice)

2. Basic researcher (lab)

3. Professional educator (dean)

4. Clinician-teacher (ward attending, clinic preceptor, course director, program director)

5. Academic-educator (course director, research mentor, program director, dean)

6. Clinical researcher

7. Triple threat (rare in this day)

*Most neurologist-educators will fall into slots 4 or 5

1 2

3

4 5

6

7

Know the roles of a clinician-educator

Clinical Teacher Administrator

Curriculum developer

Education scholar

Clinician Educator

Most clinician educators will perform a number of these tasks

Useful to think of these as mutually exclusive

Heflin MT, Pinheiro S, Kaminetzky CP et al. 'So you want to be a clinician-educator …': designing a clinician-educator curriculum for internal medicine residents. Med Teach 2009;31:e233–e240

Every department NEEDS teachers

Clerkship director

Program director

Basic science curriculum course/module director

Grand rounds organizer

CME director

Representative(s) to college-wide curriculum committees

Representatives to hospital-wide GME committees

Know what you want to do…BUT

To an extent

Never say never, never say always

Junior’s don’t always have to say yes!

Know what tools you will need…

Communication

Organization

Long term vision

Communication with chair/chief is key

From before day 1

Alignment of goals

Annual review

Refinement

Get organized…Have a plan

Starting your first job

• Make your chair know from day one that you want to be a clinician-educator

• Make sure your chair is supportive of this goal and is willing to provide some protected time to teach

• Ask to teach in the basic neuroscience course or the clerkship

• Ask about any potential leadership roles as an associate course director

• Make sure your chair knows to call YOU when a teaching opportunity arises!

Getting started: What should you be

doing? Setting up a clinic

See lots of patients in the beginning

Effective clinician-educators should be very comfortable

with clinical care

Attending on the wards

Be an enthusiastic teacher

Make sure the house-staff know you are really interested

in teaching on rounds

Getting yourself known in the local community and region

Give grand rounds, teach nurses, the public, take every

teaching chance offered

Getting Settled

• Get more involved in formal curriculum or residency training

• 50% of clerkship directors serve less than 6 years so make it known that you might be interested in case a vacancy arises

• Ask about education committees at the medical college and hospital

• Volunteer to assist the chair develop grand rounds schedule

Get involved in multiple aspects of education

Teaching

Curriculum development

Advising and mentoring trainees and students

Developing assessment methods

Educational leadership and administration roles

Simpson, D., Fincher, R.-M. E., Hafler, J. P., et al. Advancing educators and education by defining the components and evidence associated with educational scholarship. Medical Education 2007,;41:1002–1009.

Know where your vision fits in the promotions process…

• Meet with your chair annually to discuss your progress towards promotion

• Find out what tracks are available at your institution

• Very variable

– Most medical schools now have clinician-educator tracks

– Read the faculty handbook to see which track sounds most appropriate to you

– Some schools grant tenure on all tracks, many offer tenure only to top-notch researchers

Know what assistance you will need…

Mentorship

Faculty development

Education peers

An ideal mentor is someone who is…

Objective

Familiar with your career goals

Preferably not a superior

Available for you

Enthusiastic

A better listener than talker

Multiple mentors

Local

Outside institution

Near peer

Senior

Faculty development

Teaching skills development!

Local: take advantage!

Meetings: CNPD, CDPD, AB Baker, AAN meeting, ANA, others

External courses: Harvard Macy, Stanford

Education Peers

• Neurology clinician-educators may have more in common with clinician-educators in other departments than their colleagues in neurology

• Find out if your medical college has an Academy of Medical Educators and join it!

• Join faculty development workshops, offer to assist in planning

• Don’t expect any of this to “fall into your lap”!

– Neurology is often overlooked by deans offices

– Put yourself out there! It may reap major benefits

Cooke M, Irby DM, Debas HT. The UCSF Academy of Medical Educators. Acad Med 2003;78:666-672

Know how to navigate the promotions

ladder…

Make an impact

Document

Disseminate

Get involved nationally

• National organizations

– Network with like-minded individuals

– Share educational resources

– Develop ideas for education research projects

– Join the consortium of clerkship or program directors

– Join the AB Baker section

• May be important for promotion to have a national reputation

Document, Document, Document

• Create and maintain an education portfolio

• Just as important as your CV

• Should be updated regularly (at least annually)

– Don’t wait until you are ready for promotion!

• More and more schools are using an education portfolio as part of the promotion process

– 1990: 5 schools

– 1992: 17 schools

– 2003: 76 schools

Simpson D, Hafler J, Brown D et al. Documentation systems for educators seeking academic promotion in U.S. medical schools. Acad Med 2004;79: 783–790

What goes into an educator portfolio?

Philosophy of education

Teaching activities

Development of curricula

Advising and mentoring

Educational leadership roles

Educational research

Professional educational development

Educational awards and honors

Shah BJ, Rose S. Scholarship in Education: The Currency for Career Development for Clinician–Educators in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Gastroenterology 2012;142:684-689

What are the criteria for promotion?

• Teaching skills (6.3)

• Clinical skills (5.8)

• Mentoring (5.7)

• Academic administration (5.3)

• Program development (5.3)

• Nonresearch scholarship (5.1)

• Clinical research (4.8)

• Education research (4.5)

Most important aspects of

performance (1-10)

Beasley BW, Wright SM, Cofrancesco J et al. Promotion criteria for clinician-educators in the United States and Canada: A survey of promotion committee chairpersons. JAMA 1997;278:723–728

What are the methods of evaluating success in education?

Teaching awards

Peer evaluation

Learner evaluation

Education portfolio

Key responsibilities: teaching, curriculum development, administration and education scholarship.

Teaching skills are the most influential criterion for CE promotion

Versatility should be rationally employed without compromising on one’s core values

Communication with the chairperson or designee should be regular and bidirectional

Read promotion criteria on day one of a new job and plan proactively

Seek out mentors who exhibit enthusiasm, and can make themselves available when needed

Develop a reputation of excellence for clinical care and teaching at the local institution

Develop an educators portfolio

Take Home Points

30

Panel Discussion on Career Development

• If you would like to submit your question for the panel via text, please send it to: 917-609-6776

Schedule • 8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Panel Discussion on Career

Development– Steven Galetta, MD, FAAN; Zachary London MD, FAAN; Joseph Safdieh MD, FAAN

• 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Breakout 1: Explore– Faculty facilitators at your table will guide participants as they reflect on their

educational philosophy and current roles

• 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break

• 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Breakout 2: Expand– Faculty facilitators at your table will discuss what new roles participants are

contemplating and what the next steps might be

• 11:45 a.m. – 12: 15 p.m. Questions and Answers

• 12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Closing Remarks